Housewife, 54

We have had a very good spring for gardening. A nice blend of cool and warm, rain and dry.... everything is doing quite well just now....  But that can all change in an instant.  Today's forecast is stormy - rain, wind and hail with the possibility of tornadoes.  Guess I won't go shopping, I'll stay home and dink around on the computer and maybe do some sewing.....? Here is an update on the gardens: Our vegetable plot up at Mt. Hope church is doing well.  Everything that I had planned to have in by this time is planted and growing.  I did not get good germination with my bean seeds, so I have already planted more.  Just this week we got compost and filled in the last section with the "no-dig' method: laying down cardboard and piling the compost on top and planting directly in that compost.  This is supposed to suppress all weeds and give you clean soil that you can keep nicely.  Here is a picture: Our veggies at Mt. Hope.  Our ...

I am so pleased to report that good progress has been made! In the past week I have earned several Master Gardener Volunteer hours... AND made progress on my own gardens.  There is still more to go, but I am SO grateful for the progress that I have made! The historic garden at Petersen Farm, I dug and planted this first section. Each time this spring that I have attempted to work in the garden, I have become amazingly exhausted - even just an hour was a recipe for sitting the rest of the day.  But now I have found that I can work harder and longer, and with a little bit of a rest, I can continue to do the things that I need to for the rest of the day.  This is a HUGE improvement!  The spring weather roller coaster has actually been a help.  After I work a couple of days and get really tired, we have some messy, rainy weather so I can recover (smile). Just as an example: Friday I had worked at the Master Gardener office for 4 hours, zipped home for a q...

Ta DAAA ! I am officially OUT of the cast and onto bigger and better things.... like gardening!  I told my Physical Therapist that I simply MUST get out in my garden and she recommended a brace for my ankle to keep me steady and to protect it from re-injury.  She also warned me against doing too much - which I ignored.... Last weekend we had the boys home and all went to a wedding. Here is a pic of all of us, taken at the reception: I think it is lovely picture of all of us!  Eldest son was a groomsman, thus the matching purple tie. The next day we had Grandma over to a brunch with all of us before Eldest son and D-I-L had to head for home.  Younger son could stay longer, finish his laundry, and again he helped me in the garden a bit.  We just went out to LOOK at the garden, then bent over to pull a weed or two, and just kept going.. until DS hit a nest of yellowjackets!  OUCH!  He was stung 3 times, but we got him in and treated quickly, so it ...

HOT- HOT- HOT - the weather, that is. Last week we had several days over 100F and the rest were in the upper 90's.  BLAH.  All week there were "chances for thunderstorms" but even though we could see the storm clouds coming close, they always faded away or passed us without leaving a drop.  I have been watering my gardens at least once a day - flowers, berry canes, and vegetables.  Now I am beginning to water the trees!  The lawn was gone weeks ago.  There is not a single green lawn to be found in our neighborhood, and that is odd for Illinois! Another storm, passing us by, but what a show! Not only is the weather outside miserable, being inside is more comfortable but still oppressive.  I have so many things that I had planned to do this summer, and I am not making much progress..... However, I have done a few things.  In my last edition, I shared an excellent experience with showing Elvis.  We have continued to show and had som...

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted!  I will have to attribute my procrastination to the complication of having both the time and the inspiration to write - at the same time.  Guess that does not happen very often for me! So what have I been doing?   On top of running a house, working with and caring for my dogs, and ignoring my garden, I keep pretty busy.  I got into a terrible rut during that long HOT-weather spell of sitting and knitting or reading.  Once the weather cooled off in August, the damage was already done.  (Imagine that; we don't often see the words "cooled off" and "August" in the same sentence, do we?)  Anyway, the damage is that my book stack was fully stocked and my knitting projects well begun with a drive to finish several projects before Christmas. Not to mention that the garden was almost ruined by the heat and then pretty much finished off by the Japanese beetles.... Reading:  Nella Last'...